Meeting Blog Pals

If ever given the chance and you are visiting close to someone whose blog you read, see if you can meet them in person - it is well worth it.
While in Malta my Mom and I were able to meet Ilene of An American in Malta blog. I have been a reader of her blog since she started it right before moving to Malta last October. She has now been there a year and has had many adventures along the way. I decided to send her a note and ask if we could meet in person as we had only exchanged messages through her blog and I was planning on being in the same area where she lives. I heard back and we had decided to meet for coffee the first Sunday my Mom and I were in Malta. We walked over to Cara's Cafe and sat down, a few minutes later I see who I think is Ilene come in so I go over and introduce myself to her. She joins us at our table, we have coffee and chat about her life in Malta, our journey there, her journey there, our shared dislike of flying and other things. Before we depart, Ilene asks us over to dinner, we accept her offer and get her address and part ways until later that evening.

7:30 PM we arrive at Ilene's house and meet her partner Mr. S and their friend, the lovely Miss Z who are both from Germany. Ilene gives us a tour of her super cool vintage Maltese home filled with original tile floors that change pattern depending on what room you are in. Her home is spread over 3 floors, a rooftop and a back open patio. The star of the household is Egypt, the black Persian kitty that also moved to Malta with Ilene from the east coast. Egypt is super cute and put on a little bit of a show for us looking down at us from the staircase when we first arrived.
We sat down for a wonderful dinner cooked by Mr. S - roast chicken with vegetables which was so delicious, with that we had some tasty wine and great conversation. It was very interesting to get the perspective of expats from the US and Europe that are currently living in Malta. We talked about jobs, health care and other things one thinks about when considering perhaps being an expat one day. Z had a job interview the next day and we were all hoping she got the job so she could stay in Malta, it turns out I read on Ilene's blog she did get the job which is amazing and I am so happy for her. When dinner was over Ilene brought out a cake that Z had made, what a cake it was too - sort of like a layer of cheesecake inside a apple spice sort of cake along with strong hot coffee it was the perfect way to end a fabulous meal. Ilene was leaving for the states a few days later so this was the one time we had to see her, which was a bummer because I could have seen us hanging out again during our stay in Malta. Anyway, the evening came to an end and we all said our good byes, surprisingly enough, I didn't take any photos of all of us together (a true testament to how much fun I had).
Ilene, you and Mr. S were wonderful hosts, thank you so much for opening your home up to us, we both had a great time. I hope that next time I am in Malta we can get together.

One more blog you all must check out Gourmet Worrier - Nanette, she was in Malta the same time we were and I had just found her blog before we left, it is lovely and she shares a lot about Malta and also has some Maltese recipes on her blog!